In Light of Failure
2014
Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts by Mark McKenna and Preston Dane

In Light of Failure 2014 Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts by Mark McKenna and Preston Dane

In Light of Failure 2014 Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts by Mark McKenna and Preston Dane

In Light of Failure 2014 Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts by Mark McKenna and Preston Dane

In Light of Failure 2014 Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts by Mark McKenna and Preston Dane

In Light of Failure 2014 Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts by Mark McKenna and Preston Dane

In Light of Failure 2014 Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts by Mark McKenna and Preston Dane

In Light of Failure 2014 Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts by Mark McKenna and Preston Dane

During the 2008 global financial crash, industrial designer and small business owner, Mark McKenna, lost his shirt. Six months earlier, Mark had taken out a large business loan to mass-produce his newest product, the Betty Lou lamp. Just two weeks after receiving the inventory, the crash occurred. Business dried up across the board, leaving Mark little choice but to close up shop, still bearing the enormous financial burden. It was a personal catastrophe, bringing Mark to the edge of bankruptcy and challenging his emotional and psychological resolve.

In Light of Failure was composed of the remaining unsold inventory. Each lamp --once a symbol of failure-- became a pixel of light and beacon of perseverance. The murals were a demonstration of the beauty that we can glean from our greatest life failures, and a celebration of the strengths that can be earned only through defeat. On the last day of the exhibit, viewers were invited to participate by taking a lamp; the artwork was consumed, the failure figuratively erased.